Freight-gar door



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C. K. CHAMBERLAIN. FREIGHT GAR DGOR.

No. 548,955. Patented Oct. 29, l1895.

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C. K. GHAMBERLAIN.

Y FREIGHT GAR DooR. r

No. 548,955. I Patented'ot. 29, 1895.

l fr t 773i j nu I AN DREW EGRAHANL PHOTO-LITRO. WASHINGTON4 DE To all whom it may concern.:

UNITED STATES PATENT GEETCE.

CLARENCE K. CHAMBEELAIN, CE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FREIGHT-CAR DOOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 548,955, dated october 29, 1895.'A

' 'Application inea mmh 21. 1895. serai No'. 542,660. (N model Beit known that I, CLARENCE K. CHAMBER LAIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Freight-Car Doors, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in the construction of sliding doors for box-cars and of the class which t when closed in the casings of t-he door-openings to extend at their outer surfaces flush with the sides of the cars.

In the construction of boxcars for use in transporting grain or other merchandise which may be injuriously affected -by moisture, dust, and cinders, or is more or less iniiammable and liable to be ignited by sparks from a locomotive which may enter the car, the desirability of providing a door which will more thoroughly and effectively close the door-opening than the doors hitherto in common use is generally recognized. In making such a d oor sufficiently practicable to render itsadoption desirable, however, necessary requirements-such as security against theft of articles from the car, ease of operation, strength, durability, and economy of construction-must be taken into consideratlon.

So far as I am aware all freight-car doors hitherto devised for thoroughly closing the door-openings have fallen short in one or more of the necessary requirements or have contained undesirable features which proved fatal to their adoption.

My object is to provide a door of the above class of an improved construction which renders it free from the objections attending doors of the same class hitherto provided; and to this end my invention consists in the general construction of my improvements and also iu details and combinations of parts, all

as hereinafter set forth, and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a broken portion of a box-car, showing my improvements with the door closed; Fig. 2, an enlarged broken section taken on line 2 of Fig. l and viewed in the direction of the arrow; Fig. 3, a similar section showing the positions of parts when the door is released from its fastening; Figs. 4. and 5, enlarged broken sections taken on line 4 of Fig. 1 and showing, respectively, the relative positions of the doorhangers; Figs. 7 and 8, enlarged broken sections taken, respectively, kon lines `7 and 8 of Fig. 1; Fig. 9, a view of the same character as Fig. 3, but showing a modified construction; and Fig. 10, a broken and enlarged vertical section of the door-sill and lower end portion of the door.

A is a side wall of the car; B, a door-opening therein; C, the door-sill; D, the plate, which also forms the lintel of the door-opening, and E E the door-posts. F is a door suspended upon hangers G, Whichare provided with grooved Wheels t to run upon atop doortrack w. The plate D and door-posts are rabbeted to afford sockets fr, into which the door tits when closed, producing joints sufficiently tight for all requirements. The hangers which I employ are bifurcated, as shown, the forks t being turned backward at their lower eud portions and formed'with rounded upward-projecting toes t2. the door-are metal strips s, formed with sockets s', into which the toe portions of the haugers extend. In the upper inner sides of the sockets are shallow recesses s2, at which they rest.- upon the toes 252, and the forks are provided adjacentjto the toes with preferably elongated sockets t3 to receive pins s3, extending transversely through the socket-pieces. By the means described the hangers are pivotally mounted upon'the tracks w and the door pivotally suspended upon the hangers. The weight of the door when opened is upon the toes s2, and the bearings or points of pivotal Contact are far enough back from the outer surface of the door to cause the latter as it hangs suspended to extend in the' vertical plane parallel with the side A of the car. Owing to the weight of the door and the rough handling .to which it is subject in use, the construction of the hangers, which gives to them particularly great strength and d urability, is important. On the hangers are backward-projecting lugs or stops s4, which extendjust below the track w and operate to prevent undue jarring of the car from d isengaging the wheels t from the track. The forks t operate to prevent rattling or binding 0f the parts at the point of suspension, and thus On the outer face of IOO tend to prevent wear of the meeting surfaces and sagging of the door.

Mounted in bearings r on the outer surface of the door is a rock-shaft H, provided at its opposite ends beyond the edges of the door with crank projections 0^'. Rigidly secured upon the center of the rock-shaft is a lever or handle H, provided between its ends with an eye r2, adapted to receive an eyebolt H2, secured upon the door in the position shown. At the edge of the door-opening toward which the door moves in closing is a plate or casting q, having a projection q', provided with a socket in its upper side. Fastened upon the door-post E at the opposite side of the dooropening is a casing I, containing a yielding, preferably gravity, latch I. The latch I is pivoted at its end p in the lower rear portion of the casing and has a head portion p', adapted to extend normally through a slot p2 beyond the side A of the car. In the head p is a socket p3, and when in its normal position the latch rests at the base of its head portion upon a stop p4, formed by the casing. On the rock-shaft H in the position shown is a cam projection r3. On the side of the car at the lower edge of the door are door-track brackets n, of common construction, to prevent outward swinging of the door.

To close the door, it is slid to the door-stop Z in position to register with the opening B, and the handle or lever H is raised to cause the crank portions r of the rock-shaft or crank-rod H to engage the socket projection q and socket p3 of the latch I. In the movement of the handleto the position shown in Figs. l and 7 lthe engagement of the cranks with the socket-bearings forces the door bodily into the recesses :n to the position shown in Fig. 2, when the opening will be closed at all parts and the door held secure by means of a padlock or car-seal passed through the eyepiece H2 to prevent movement of the lever or handle.

To render the closing of the door easy to accomplish, I locate the rock-shaft and attendant parts preferably about one-third the height of the door above the lower edge thereof, the effect of this construction being to cause the door in its initial movement While closing to pitch inward at its upper edge while swinging upon the hangers G, and the lever in its final movement to force the door home at the lower edge. The closing of the door is thus rendered much more smooth and easy to accomplish than were the rock-shaft and attendant parts at the lower edge portion of the door, because in that case the engagement of the cranks with the socket projections would tend to draw the doorinward primarily at its lower edge and force the door upward in longitudinal line with the hangers, making it necessary for the operator to force the upper part of the door inward with his hands, if possible, or with a suitable staff, before the door can be closed. In practice I prefer to bevel the lower edge of the door andthe upper surface of thesill, as indicated in Fig. 10.

To open the door, the lever or handle H is swung outward from the position shown in Fig. l until it extends vertically downward. In the turning of the rock-shaft thus produced the door is moved bodily outward to rest suspended upon the hangers, as indicated in Fig. 5. When in this position the door extends in the vertical plane, its inner surface being parallel with and just beyond the plane of the outer surface of the side A. The turning of the rock-shaft described swings the cranks r out of the socket-bearings and turns the cam r3 to theinner side of the rock-shaft. As the door is slid to the right to uncover the opening B, the cam r2 engages the gravitylatch I and swings the latter on its pivot into the casing I. The inner surface of the door or the door center girth y, usually provided thereon, will keep-the latch in its casing until it is passed by the door, when it will swing outward again to its normal position and operate as a stop against movement of the door to the left. As it frequently happens that a car is loaded or unloaded while standing upon a grade, which would cause the door when open to slide by gravity to its closed position, the presence of a stop I', which operates automatically to prevent such sliding of the door, is desirable. The stop also prevents the door while open from being slid and jammed against its stops during the switching of the car.

In the modification shown in Fig. 9 I dispense with the cam r2 on the rock-shaft and provide the equivalent thereof with a cam consisting of an inclined plate m set into the edge of the door, the latter being chamfered at that point to receive the plate. As I prefer to construct it, the plate m forms part of a casting having a projecting lip m and face-plate m2, secured in place with the adjacent shaftbearing r. The lip m overlaps the edge of the door-post when the door is shut, and thus closes any opening that might exist at that point due to the cutting away of the edge of the door.

In the sliding doors hitherto generally provided it has been usual to lock and seal at one edge, and it has frequently happened that unauthorized persons by removing the lower-track bracket at the opposite edge have been able thus to pry the door outward at its lower corner and abstract merchandise from the car without injuring the seal. To guard against the doors being opened in any manner without breaking a seal at the eyepiece H2, I provide the socket-plate q and bearings r with bolts formed, preferably, integral therewith and which pass through bolt-openings to the inner sides of the door-post and door, where they are fastened by means of nuts. Thus besides possessing the advantages of ease of operation and thorough closing of the door-opening my improved door is burglar- ICO IIO

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proof in the sense that it cannot be opened without breaking the car-seal, which would lead to ready detection.

What `I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with the door-opening and upper door-track of a freightcar, of a door seating when closed in said dooropening and movable bodily out of said door-opening to slide on the track, and suspending means for the door, comprising socket-pieces set into the door and provided with concave bearing surfaces s2, and hangers pivotally mounted upon the track, to slide thereon, and having forks t provided with toes t2 which extend into and pivotally engage said socketpieces at the said bearing-surfaces, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination with the door-opening and upper door-track of a freight-car, of a door seating when closed in the said dooropening, sliding hangers suspending the door on the track and pivotally connected with the door behind its outer surface, a crank rod on the door between its transverse center and lower end and provided with an operat-4 out of the path of the door, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination with the door-opening and upper door-track of a freight-car, of a.l

door seating when closed in the said dooropening, sliding hangers suspending the door on the track and pivotally connected with the door behind its outer surface, a crank-rod on the door between its transverse center and lower end and provided with an operating handle, bearings at the opposite lateral edges of the door, above its lower edge, to receive the crank ends of the rod, the bearing at the side across which the door slides in opening being pivotally supported at the door-post to extend normally into the path of the door, and bearing engaging means, at the edge of the door, operating in the initial movement of the door, from the door opening, to move the said pivotal bearing out of the path of the door, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. The combination with the door-opening and upper door-track of a freight-car, of a door seating when closed in the said dooropening, sliding hangers suspending the door on the track and pivotally connected with the door behind its outer surface, a crank-rod on the door between its transverse center and lower end and provided with an operating handle, bearings at the opposite lateral edges of the door, above its lower edge, to receive the crank ends of the rod, the bearing at the side across which the door slides in opening being pivotally supported at the door-post to extend normally into the path of the door, and a cam at the edge of the door, operating in the initial movement of the door, from the door opening, to engage and move the said pivotal bearing on its pivot out of the path of the door, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. The combination with the door-opening and upper door-track of a freight-car, of a door seating when closed in the said dooropening, sliding hangers suspending the door on the track and pivotally connected with the door behind its outer surface,a crank-rod on the door between its transverse center and lower end and provided with an operating handle, bearings at the opposite lateral edges of the door, above its lower edge, to receive the crank ends of the rod, the bearing at the sideacross which the door slides in opening being pivotally supported at the door-post to extend normally into the path of the door, and a cam on the said crank-rod at the edge of the door, operating in the initial movement of the door, from the door-opening, to engage and move the said pivotal bearing on its pivot out of the path of the door, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. The combination with the dooropening andupper door-track of a freight-car, of a door seating when closed in the said dooropening, sliding hangers suspending the door on the track and pivotally connected with the door behind its outer surface, a crank-rod on the door between its transverse center and lower end and provided with an operating handle, bearings at the opposite lateral edges of the door, above its lower edge, to receive the crank ends of the rod, the bearing at the side across which the door slides in opening comprising a casing I secured at the side of the door-post and presenting a recess p2 and stop p4, a latch I pivoted at one end portion in the said casing and having a head 1o provided with a socket p3 resting normally upon the stop p4 to project from the casing, and shifting means for the latch operating in the initial movement of the door from the dooropening to swing the said latch on its pivot into the said casing and out of the path of the door, substantially as and for the purpose set IOO 

